NBA: Boston Celtics thirsty for awards, but drought continues

Sunday

Apr 14, 2013 at 6:00 AM

Bill Doyle NBA

Diehard fans may be able to name the years in which the Celtics won each of their record 17 NBA championships, but 1980 stands out for a different reason. The Celtics didn’t earn a title that year, but they captured three of the league’s four major regular-season awards.

Larry Bird was voted Rookie of the Year and his play helped Red Auerbach get the nod for Executive of the Year for drafting him a year early and Bill Fitch earn Coach of the Year for guiding the Celtics to 61 victories, 32 more than the previous season. The NBA had no Defensive Player of the Year Award, Most Improved Player Award or Sixth Man Award back then so the only major honor that didn’t go to a Celtic in 1980 was the Most Valuable Player Award. Lakers center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar received it for a record sixth and final time.

Even with the number of major regular-season awards boosted from four to seven, the Celtics have never again captured as many as three in the same season. For the fifth consecutive year, they won’t win any of them. The Celtics have always cared more about winning championships than awards, but no one expects them to add their 18th title this year either.

After the Celtics won their last championship in 2008, Kevin Garnett earned Defensive Player of the Year and Danny Ainge was voted Executive of the Year. Paul Pierce also won the NBA Finals MVP, but that was a postseason honor. Then the drought began.

The last Celtic to win the MVP was Bird, who earned it for the third year in a row in 1986. Bird was also the last Celtic to be voted Rookie of the Year, and Fitch that year became the last Celtic to be Coach of the Year.

No Celtic has won the Sixth Man since Bill Walton in 1986. Kevin McHale won it the previous two years. No Celtic has won the Most Improved Award since it debuted in the 1985-86 season.

Garnett and Avery Bradley may receive some votes for Defensive Player of the Year this season, but neither will win it. No other Celtic will be in the running for any other award. Jason Terry, the 2009 Sixth Man winner with Dallas, doesn’t deserve any consideration this year after a disappointing season.

So here are this writer’s picks for the NBA’s major awards:

This is no contest. LeBron James will win this honor for the second year in a row and the fourth time in the last five years. With his fourth MVP, he’ll tie Wilt Chamberlain. Abdul-Jabbar won six and Bill Russell and Michael Jordan each won five. Unless he takes a few years off to play baseball like Jordan did, James should surpass them all. At 28, he will earn his fourth MVP at a younger age than any others in the top five. Russell earned his last MVP at 31, Chamberlain at 32, Abdul-Jabbar at 33 and Jordan at 35.

Most Celtics fans dislike James, but you can’t dispute with what he’s done this season. He’s actually been better than ever in his 10th year in the NBA. Entering Friday, he was shooting career highs of 56.3 percent overall, well above his second-best percentage of 53.1 last year, and 40.3 from threeland, again easily topping his second-best percentage of 36.2 last year. He was also averaging a career high in rebounds (8.1) and a career low in fouls (1.45). That last stat ticks off everyone in the league outside of Miami. Throw in his 26.9 scoring average, his 7.2 assists and Miami’s league-best record and it’s clear that James deserves the MVP.

Frank Vogel deserves to be mentioned for coaching Indiana to the Central Division title even though his best player, forward Danny Granger, was limited to five games by a knee injury. Vinny Del Negro also did a nice job guiding the Clippers to the Pacific Division crown. But this vote goes to Knicks coach Mike Woodson.

The Nets, not the Knicks, were the hot preseason pick to win the Atlantic Division title, but Woodson guided New York to its first divisional crown since 1994. He did it under the hot lights of New York even though every starter has missed at least 10 games due to injury and Amar’e Stoudemire has played in only 29. He also motivated the Knicks to defend. Anyone who can coach Carmelo Anthony to a divisional title deserves this award.

J.R. Smith of the Knicks edges out Jamal Crawford of the Clippers. Smith averages slightly more points (17.9 compared to 16.7) and assists (2.8-2.5), but far more rebounds (5.3-1.6). Crawford is the more efficient shooter, shooting 44 percent overall, 36.9 percent from threeland and 87.5 percent from the foul line. Smith is shooting 41.7, 35.3 and 76.7.

Portland’s Damian Lillard has no competition for his award. The 6-foot-3 guard from Weber State averages 19.1 points and 6.5 assists, both far more than any other first-year player. The sixth pick of the 2012 NBA Draft, Lillard must have the Kings kicking themselves for not drafting him with the No. 5 selection instead of forward Thomas Robinson out of Kansas. The Kings gave up on the 6-foot-10 Robinson and dealt him to Houston in February, and he’s averaged only 4.8 points and 4.5 rebounds.

Serge Ibaka of Oklahoma City and Larry Sanders of Milwaukee rank first and second in blocks, but this is a bit of a sentimental pick. San Antonio’s Tim Duncan has never won this award, so he gets the nod. Duncan, who turns 37 on April 25, is third in the league in blocks and Denver coach George Karl said Duncan defends the pick and roll better than anyone. That may upset Garnett fans, but that’s quite an endorsement.

The obvious pick is James Harden, who is averaging 25.9 points for Houston after scoring 16.8 a game last season for Oklahoma City, but Orlando center Nikola Vucevic deserves honorable mention. Vucevic is averaging 12.9 points and 11.9 rebounds in his first season with the Magic after averaging 5.3 points and 4.8 rebounds last season for Philadelphia. Orlando general manager Rob Hennigan, a Worcester native and former St. John’s High star, knew what he was doing when he insisted on getting Vucevic in the four-team deal that sent Dwight Howard to the Lakers.

Hennigan, who became the NBA’s youngest general manager when he was hired at 30 years old last summer, gets the nod here. Sure, the Magic own one of the NBA’s worst records, but the team is rebuilding, the future is bright and he’s from Worcester. Enough said.

James, Anthony, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul and Kobe Bryant. Sure there’s no center, but if the NBA can drop the center position from its All-Star ballot, there’s no reason to include one here.

What kind of production would you expect for $123 million? Would a total of 39 games suffice? Definitely not, but seven players on the books for $123 million, according to hoopshype.com, played a total of 39 games this season.

Brandon Roy ranks as the NBA’s second highest paid player at $21.5 million, but a knee injury limited him to only five games with Minnesota. Gilbert Arenas ($20.8 million) and Baron Davis ($14.8 million) are no longer in the league, but rank fourth and 23rd on the salary list. Knee injuries have sidelined Andrew Bynum ($16.5 million) and Derrick Rose ($16.4 million) all season and limited Stoudemire to 29 games and Granger ($13 million) to five.

Insurance may cover some of these salaries, but $123 million is still a lot of dough. By the way, the Lakers have the NBA’s highest team payroll at $100 million and it hasn’t been worth it either.

Contact Bill Doyle at wdoyle@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillDoyle15.